A decision analytic study was conducted using computer simulation to project the outcomes in a simulated cohort of patients whose treatment for back surgery had failed. The objective of this study was to estimate the direct cost of intrathecal morphine therapy (IMT) delivered via an implantable pump relative to alternative therapy (medical management) over a 60-month course of treatment. IMT ad...

BACKGROUND Anecdotally, use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Musculoskeletal Pain (MSP) is common in Nigeria; however, there seems to be a dearth of empirical data on its prevalence and mode of use. This study investigated the prevalence and modes of use of CAM for MSP among farmers in a rural community in South-western Nigeria. METHODS This cross-sectional survey employed ...

OBJECTIVE To review the evidence supporting selected complementary and alternative medicine approaches used in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). QUALITY OF EVIDENCE MEDLINE (from January 1966), EMBASE (from January 1980), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched until March 2008, combining the terms irritable bowel syndrome or irritable colon with complemen...

BACKGROUND Brain stimulation is a technique that can guide brain plasticity and thus be suitable to treat chronic pain-a disorder that is associated with substantial reorganisation of CNS activity. In fact, the idea of using invasive and non-invasive brain stimulation for pain relief is not new. Studies from the 1950s investigated the use of this therapeutic method for the treatment of chronic ...

Massage therapy is older than recorded time, and rubbing was the primary form of medicine until the pharmaceutical revolution of the 1940s. Popularized again as part of the alternative medicine movement, massage therapy has recently received empirical support for facilitating growth, reducing pain, increasing alertness, diminishing depression, and enhancing immune function. In this article stud...

abstract background and aims: one of the complications of breast cancer treatment is ipsilateral upper extremity lymphedema. secondary lymphedema is a chronic condition that leads to loss of function and disorder of quality of life. the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of complex decongestive physical therapy (cdp) on pain severity and quality of life in patients with secondary upp...

complementary and alternative medicine is popular among cancer patients worldwide. among these, herbal medicines have a substantial place in cancer treatment and palliation. cancer patients in the western world use complementary and alternative medicine in conjunction with conventional care. however, the situation in a developing country such as india that has some highest cancer rates worldwid...